


One Piece: Legend of the Four Heroes

by PaperFox19



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Beastmen - Freeform, Harems, M/M, Yaoi, demi-humans, therianthrope
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2019-10-27 04:39:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17759930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaperFox19/pseuds/PaperFox19
Summary: Luffy was living a simple life, if not a little boring he liked to read about grand adventures hoping he could one day go on one of these grand adventures in a fantastical world. Upon finding a mysterious book he's brought to a fantastical world. Not all is as it seems, Luffy is forced into a corner.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please Read and Review

One Piece: Legend of the Four Heroes

Luffy was living a simple life, if not a little boring he liked to read about grand adventures hoping he could one day go on one of these grand adventures in a fantastical world. Upon finding a mysterious book he's brought to a fantastical world.

Chapter 1 Adventure in a New World

Monkey D. Luffy was living a rather normal simple life. He grew up living with his grandfather, and his two brothers. They camped, fished, and had a lot of fun together, but Ace and Sabo grew up and went off to achieve their goals. Luffy while taking part in a few sports didn't really have a goal. He loved manga and anime and was an otaku of sorts.

What Luffy wanted more than anything was to have an adventure, he's read all kinds of manga where people had fantastical adventures. He wanted to have one like in those books, a fantasy adventure with monsters and magic, that sort of thing.

Luffy had some spare cash so he decided to visit the bookstore and see if they had anything new. When he tried to pull one book out, another fell out and bopped him on the head. “Oww,” he rubbed his head. “Hmm?” He picked the book up.

“Legend of the Four Heroes?” he opened it up and began to flip through the pages. “Totto Land faced a terrible crisis, the Dragon Hourglass counted the days to the Waves of Catastrophe, an event of mass destruction and death. In order to fend off the Waves, four great heroes were summoned to their world.” he started reading the book. “The heroes would take up the holy treasures, and battle the Waves and protect the people from destruction. The holy treasures of the legendary heroes, The Spear, The Sword, The Bow, and the Shield.” Luffy grinned, this sounded pretty cool.

He skimmed a bit, reading about a King who left his country to seek out ways of strengthening ties and fighting the Waves together. In his place, his Mother was acting queen. There were demi-humans and therianthropes aka beast men. Unique skills, magic, and monsters to fight. “This place sounds amazing.” he flipped some more pages until he landed on the Shield Hero's chapter, much to Luffy's shock the pages were blank. “What's this, is the book unfinished?”

The pages began to glow and turn on their own, Luffy gasped as he was suddenly pulled into the book. In an instant, he summoned to a new world and he was not alone. “What where is this? Where am I?” the guy with the bow had a long nose and curly black hair. He was freaking out quite a bit while the other two were calmly looking around.

Luffy looked at the other two, both were blonde, but the guy who was carrying the spear was taller than all of them. He was shirtless, wearing a sash and some baggy pants. The second blonde has a sword and he was dressed super stylish.

“Oh great heroes, please save our world!” some robbed men bowed to them.

'Heroes?' Luffy looked down and saw a small shield on him. “Ehh?” he gasped. He tried to take it off but it wouldn't come off, it could move, but it remained connected to his body.

“You summon us and demand our help?” the tall blonde steps forward.

“How rude, I hope you intend to pay us for this inconvenience?” The sword hero says.

“Right, right!” the bow hero says.

'What's with these guys?' Luffy blinks.

“Of course, please follow us to the Queen, she will explain everything.” they led the way.

“Greetings Heroes!” the four looked at the queen.

“Please bow your heads, for acting Queen of Totto Land, Charlotte Linlin!” The woman was huge, tall and stacked, with flowing pink hair. If the spear dude was tall this woman was a giant in comparison. She appeared to be in her mid 40's.

“Please great heroes, tell me your names,” she says.

“My name is Eneru, I'm 23.” The tall blonde says.

“I am Cavendish, I'm 21.” the sword hero says.

“T-the name is Usopp, I'm 18.” the bow hero says.

Before Luffy got the chance to speak, Linlin began to speak. “Wonderful, it's so great to have you all here.”

“Umm, your majesty, what about me?” Luffy raised his hand. Linlin had a look on her face, that seemed odd but quickly shifted into a smile. “Oh yes, we summoned all four legendary heroes. Please proceed.”

“I'm Luffy, I'm 18,” he says and gives a polite bow.

“Excuse us, your majesty, why have we been brought to this world?” Eneru asked.

“We have summoned you to this world to fight on our behalf. Our land faces the threats of the Waves of Catastrophe. We have tried to handle it ourselves, but legends state that only the legendary heroes can fight the Waves. You will, of course, be rewarded. You will each receive an initial fund from the palace, and depending on how you do during the waves be rewarded for your efforts.” Linlin explains.

“Fight monsters!” the bow hero gasped seemingly terrified. “Y-you can send us back home right?”

Linlin nodded. “Of course, once the waves have been stopped we can send you all back home.”

“That sounds interesting, I'm for it,” Cavendish says.

“My time is precious, but it has been a while since I got to cut loose, and we are getting rewards for it, so count me in,” Eneru says.

“This sounds fun, we can form a party together and kick some monster butt!” Luffy cheers.

“Right, if we are all together it won't be so scary,” Usopp says.

“I'm afraid that won't be possible.” the four look to the queen. “We don't fully understand it ourselves, but it says in the legend that the four heroes can only come together during the Waves, they each must walk their own path, to strengthen their individual weapon their own way.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Luffy says, as Usopp cries.

“Please heroes, if you would check your stats.” A servant asks.

“Our stats?” Luffy looks around.

“You didn't notice it?” Cavendish chuckles. “There is an Icon, if you focus on it, it will bring up your stats.”

Luffy and Usopp did and their stats popped up, Eneru did the same. “So we are all level 1, not good odds.”

“Not to worry heroes, there is quite a bit of time before the Wave comes, for tonight rest, and we will have a call and seek adventurers to form parties for you.”

The four were given a luxurious room to relax in while their individual rooms were being prepared. Once together the heroes began to talk about their situation. Usopp was a shut-in gamer, after high school, he moved in with his parents and became a heavy gamer who boasted a lot about his skills. He said this world was like a Console Game he played.

Eneru was a businessman until he struck it rich, now he was a bit of a player. He played games to fill his time since he didn't have to work, he also didn't keep a steady partner since he felt they just wanted him for his money. He said this world was like a state of the art VR game he played.

Cavendish was a college student, he was the hot shot on campus, every guy wanted to be him and all the girls wanted to bang him. Everyone could tell he was the type to have 2 or more girlfriends and still have something on the side. “Haha don't hate me because I'm popular,” he says, the man seemed to sparkle. Cavendish liked to be the best at everything so he liked to play against others on MMO's.

Luffy revealed he wasn't much of a gamer, but he liked manga and anime. “It has been kinda a dream of mine coming to a world like this,” he says. He did play some sports and loved the outdoors. The others shared a look and began asking each other questions about their world, they didn't match. It was odd, the only conclusion they could make was that not only did they come from another world, but came from different worlds.

“Are you gonna be alright Luffy?” Eneru asked.

“Yeah, I'll be fine. Why?”

Eneru snorts. “Well its because the Shield Class in my game was utter garbage, no one plays it.”

“What, that's not true, what about you guys?” Cavendish just shrugs, but the smirk on his face said it all, he thought Luffy was inferior, no competition.

“The Shield can't fight, so it isn't desirable when facing PvP,” Cavendish says. “Looks like you two will be my only competition,” he says looking from Eneru to Usopp.

“Sorry, Luffy it's true, no one likes the Shield Class, I check stats online no one has ever beat the game as the Shield.”

“Well I'm gonna be fine, I'm tough, and with a party, I can protect them and we can grow strong together,” Luffy says, he checks his Icon. “See look I even got skills.”

“Let's see.” they each checked their own stats. Since outside of their level, health and SP they couldn't see each other's Icons.

Eneru smirked. “I got Quantity Drop Boost Skill, that means I'll get more drops when killing monsters. I also got the Bargain Skill, I'll be able to get discounts easier. Money Boost Skill, I'll receive more money from selling monster parts.” The Icons gave explanations and tips.

“Not bad but mine is better. Dazzling Aura Skill, it says monsters will be drawn to me, and I'll be able to get party members easier.” That explains the sparkle effect when he talks. Lady Luck Skill, I'll get increased support from female party members. Fine Appraisal Skill, I'll be able to see the quality of items, weapons, and gear. Natural Charisma, bonds with party members will grow faster.”

“I got...” Usopp looked at his stats. “Craftsmen Skill, I get an increased chance of success when crafting items and weapons. Eagle Scope Skill, I can see long distances without the need for scope or goggles. Strategic Withdraw Skill, my chances of escaping an enemy is higher.”

“Sounds like a fancy way of running away.”

“Oi!” Usopp snapped. “What about you Luffy?”

“I got a few more than you guys. Angling Skill, have a higher chance of catching fish. Foraging Skill, lets me find higher quality items and find usable herbs and plants, High Stamina Skill (Medium) doubles your current stamina to use/recovery. Food Recovery Boost increases the amount of stamina recovery gained from eating food. Plant Identification Skill, allows you to identify a plant by touching it. Survival Skill 1, able to build a small campsite, and use nonweapon tools for survival. Cooking Skill 1 says I will be able to prepare simple meals. Animal Charisma, able to tame animals and beasts.”

“Well being the shield it's obvious you need more skills to make up for your lack of combat ability,” Cavendish says and pats his shoulder.

“I don't think that's why I have these skills. Fishing, Foraging, Plant Identification, Survival, Cooking, all that stuff was hammered into by my Grandpa, he liked to teach me a lot of things. Maybe these skills reflect ourselves from our world?” Eneru snorts, and a servant tells them there rooms were ready.

Cavendish and Eneru leave while the two ravens hang out a bit more.

“Your Grandpa sounds like a great guy,” Usopp says.

“He is, he could be kinda scary, he drove me and my brother's crazy. He hammered into us the importance of justice and doing the right thing. He was a fireman, he wanted us to be tough like him and there was no one tougher.”

“I bet he wanted you to be firemen just like him huh?”

“Nope, he said he'd die of worry if we ever even thought about it. My big brother Ace is a vet, and my brother Sabo is a famous author, he travels the world getting inspiration for his novels.”

“I wonder if my parents are worried about me?” Usopp asks.

“Don't worry, Queen Linlin says they can send us back. Imagine the stories we can tell them when we get back.”

“They'll never believe it.” Usopp laughs.

“We really are in another world, this is gonna be an amazing experience.” Luffy went out to the balcony and looked up at the starry sky. That was his favorite thing about camping just looking up at the clear night sky.

Usopp turned in but Luffy stayed up a bit longer, excitement burning in his young heart.

Chapter 2 Betrayal and Contracts.


	2. Betrayal and Shields

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Read and Review

Chapter 2 Betrayal and Shields

Luffy's excitement had to wait until the next day after a good night's rest the heroes gathered before the king. Adventurers were brought and lined up. 'These guys look strong.' Luffy thinks. “Hmm?”

“What's wrong Luffy?” Usopp asked him.

“Well, in the book I read there are two other species besides humans. Demi-humans and Therianthropes are there no adventurers of that species.” he crossed his arms and looked confused.

“Now adventurers choose the hero you would like to follow,” Linlin says.

“Wait they choose!” Usopp tenses up, looking terrified and shaking like a leaf. Once all the adventurers had decided it was revealed for Luffy to have no one.

“Ehh!” Luffy gasped as Usopp breathed a sigh of relief.

“This is surprising,” Linlin says.

Eneru the spear hero had four adventurers, one was a weird guy wearing mostly purple garments, and he had weird spider leg-like hair, another was carrying a large sword and wearing shades, the other was a round man who looked almost like a ball, and the last was a dude wearing a cap and wielded a spear.

Cavendish the sword hero, had nothing but female adventurers in his party. Usopp the bow hero had the most and in the most variety. “What's going on, your majesty?” he asked.

“It seems rumors have spread, that the shield hero knows little about this world while the other heroes have some understanding,” she explains.

“Was it possible someone was eavesdropping on us?” Eneru points out.

“Either way this isn't fair,” he looks to the other heroes. “You guys said I'm the weak one, so I need at least one party member.”

“I'm more of a loner, if any of these guys intend to slow me down you can take them,” Eneru says, and the four shift to stay with Eneru, leaning away from Luffy.

He looks to Cavendish who chuckles. “Well its so hard being popular.” Luffy wanted to punch his smug face.

“Usopp?” he looked to the long-nosed archer, who refused to meet Luffy's gaze and began to sweat heavily.

“Well uhh...umm I'd love to give you someone Luffy but...uhh...umm...” his eyes were shifting all over. “It'd be bad for morale if we forced it you know!” he grins.

Luffy twitched in mild anger. 'Oi first you guys say I'm the weakest, then you won't give me a party member, I'm the shield I can't fight on my own.' he thinks.

“I'll do it.” looks turn to a girl in Cavendish's party. The girl was wearing red gear and had her hair in a ponytail. “If the sword hero doesn't mind I'll help the shield hero,” she says.

“Are you sure Flampe-chan?” Cavendish asked, and she nods.

“Then its decided, since the shield hero has fewer party members, we'll give him an increased reward from the treasury,” Linlin says, and each hero got 400 silvers except Luffy who got 600. “Do well training for the upcoming waves.”

The heroes left. “Try not to get killed out there,” Eneru says before he departs with his team.

“It sucks we can't travel together but let's all do our best!” Usopp says.

“Luffy, you better take care of Flampe-chan.”

“See you around guys.” he had money and a party member, time to get started. “What shall we do first.”

“Since the Shield Hero doesn't know this world, do you mind if I take the lead?”

“Sure, what do you suggest?”

“Let's get you armor and a weapon, then we can go hunt monsters.” Luffy grins.

“Sounds good!” Flampe said she knew a place that has a good reputation for armor and weapons.

“Oww customers, you two are super lucky for coming to my shop!” the blacksmith was an odd one, wearing only a loincloth and a jacket, showing off his big strong arms, his big pecs, rock hard abs, and his hairy legs.

“We uhh heard you were the best in town.” Flampe stutters as Luffy chuckles.

“This guy seems great!”

“Oww!” he strikes a pose. “You heard right, the name's Franky, from clothes to armor, to beginner weapons to master weapons we have it all. If you bring me materials I can even make you something extra Super!” Luffy laughed.

“Right, we are looking for a weapon, surely you can find something special for him, one of the four legendary heroes.”

“No fooling?” he raised a brow. Luffy showed him his shield. “Ah so you are the shield, it might be tough for ya, but do your best defending us from the waves.” he gives Luffy a thumbs up.

“Thanks.” Franky brought out some swords.

“From left to right, we have iron, to steel, short and long, and those with a magic steel core,” he says.

“So cool,” Luffy goes over to pick one up but as soon as he touched the iron sword, and a bolt of energy forced it out of his hands. “Ahh!” he cursed. “What the heck?” He tried the steel sword only for the same reaction, even the magic steel wasn't touchable.

His status magic reacted bringing up his Icon. **“Warning weapon restriction reached!”**

“It seems I'm not allowed to equip any weapon other than the shield,” he says.

“That so?” Franky came around and put on some shades. “Hmm?” he looked over the shield with his Appraisal Magic. “It seems to be just an ordinary small shield, but there's a strange power coming from it that I can't analyze with my magic.”

“Strange power?” Luffy looked at his shield.

“Well for showing me something interesting, I'll give you a discount on armor, pick out something nice.” Luffy picked out some new clothes, a red vest, and some shorts. Flampe picked out some nice looking chain mail.

“I think this will look great on you,” she says and he tries it on. “How much will it be on resale?” she asked Franky.

“Resale? Uhh, be about 100 silvers.”

“I see,” Luffy came out of the dressing room.

“Why are you asking about that?”

“Well of course, as you level up you won't need that armor anymore, you'll get new armor and sell the old.”

“Oh right, you are so smart Flampe.” he smiles. With the discount, they saved quite a bit of money and headed out to hunt monsters. The local monsters were known as balloons, and they came in different colors. Red and Purple were the strongest, yellow and blue were the medium ranked, and orange and green were the weakest.

They found a bunch of orange and green balloons first Luffy tried punching one, only to have it fly back and dive back at him. “Alright then!” he tried to fight one but the others soon flew at him and bit at him. “Eh?” he felt no pain.

He noticed a faint aura coming from the shield hero protecting him. Luffy smirked. “Let's go!” he did his best wailing on the balloons with all his might, it took him over 5 minutes to beat 1 balloon.

Nearby they saw Eneru fighting and he took out balloons in a few seconds flat. Luffy frowned but collected the drops. His Icon gave him a tip, of strengthening his shield by giving it some of the materials. A gauge appeared and as the shield absorbed the materials it began to fill up. “Interesting, so is this the power of a legendary weapon?” Flampe analyzed.

“Guess so,” she took out a small knife.

“Leave it to me.” she took out some orange and green balloons and brought back the materials. Luffy noticed that the orange balloons that Flampe killed produced smaller materials than when he killed them.

'I wonder if it's because of my Foraging Skill?' he thinks.

“We should be able to sell the materials back in town as well,” she says, pulling Luffy from his thoughts.

“Really, that's so cool!” Luffy fed half the materials to his shield and stored the rest, and they headed back to town. Flampe wanted to buy some gear so they stopped at Franky's place first.

“So you made it back, how was it?”

“I haven't leveled up yet, but fighting monsters was awesome!” Franky smiled, liking the look in Luffy's eye.

Flampe came over with some pretty high-quality armor. “Uhh Flampe, this stuff is pretty expensive, we still have to pay for the inn and food.”

“Well, we have to spend money to make money, and the stronger I am the further we can go. If I'm stronger we can even take on a dungeon and get lots of loot.”

“Ohh a dungeon sounds so cool!” he says. “Say, Franky, I don't suppose you can give us another discount could you?”

The blue haired man sighed. “I suppose I can, 30%.” that left Luffy with some money, and he even sent them to someone who'd buy the drops from the monsters.

After getting Flampe her fancy armor and weapon, selling the materials, getting food and two rooms, they were down to 100 silvers and some coppers. “Not too bad a day.” Luffy dug in eating lots of food. “Ooohhh it's so good, I thought the food at the palace was good, but this stuff is amazing too.”

“You sure ordered a lot...” Flampe sweatdropped, trying to keep up a smile. Flampe tried to invite Luffy to drink, but the boy said he didn't like alcohol.

“I'll be turning in, thanks for joining me Flampe-chan.” he gives her a smile which she returned. “Good night!” he heads to his room.

“Good night, shield hero!” she waves him off. Luffy did feel kind of bad, from what Flampe said men in this country never turn down a drink from ladies, but Luffy liked what he liked, and didn't what he didn't. He hoped to make it up to her tomorrow.

“Oh yeah,” Ace taught him that when traveling its always good to stash your valuables someplace safe. He hid some of the silvers under his shield. He had 30 coppers and a hundred silver outside of what he hid. Luffy decided to test something, he fed one of the coppers to his shield and a new gauge popped up. “Ohh!” he fed 19 more coppers into the shield and his Icon alerted him to a new shield he unlocked.

Coin Shield Copper Unlocked: DEF +1 New Skill Coin Blessing (Low) Can store money with this skill and gain interest over time.

“This is so cool so I can unlock other shields and they can give me skills. I should tell Flampe...wait it's late she's probably already turned in I should do the same.” He set his armor and silver to the side, depositing the coppers he got into the Coin Blessing Skill and turned in for the night. He was so pumped but sleep came quickly to the boy, little did he know while he slept someone slipped into his room.

-x-

When morning came Luffy yawned, stretched to wake his body up, and he got out of bed. Only to gasp as not only was his chain mail gone, so was his money. “I've been robbed.” he went to Flampe's room and banged on the door. “Flampe we've been robbed! Oi!”

Outside knights arrived and entered the inn. Luffy got no answer from Flampe, and soon found himself surrounded. “You are knights from the castle, hurry I've been robbed you have to help me.”

“You are the shield hero correct? Your presence has been requested at the castle.” Luffy was hauled in and was brought before Linlin, the other heroes, the whole court and...Flampe!

“Flampe, so you were okay.” she yelped and hid behind Cavendish. “Flampe?”

He looked to Linlin. “Your majesty, I was robbed if we hurry we can still catch whoever did this and...”

“Silence!” she roared, shocking Luffy. “Flampe, if you would please tell us what happened again.”

Flampe began to weave a tale of how Luffy barged into her room, smelling of booze, telling her the night was still young. She claimed he ripped apart her clothes and pushed her on the bed. 'What is she saying?' She claimed she managed to escape and went to get help, finding Cavendish was staying at the same inn.

“Monster, I never should have trusted you with her. Flampe-chan convinced to wait and call for the knights or else I would have killed you myself.”

“What are you talking about, I didn't drink a drop, and went to bed alone. I don't even like gir...” he was cut off.

“Silence!” Linlin shouted again. “To think the shield hero would commit the gravest sin in our country. The attempt to assault a woman is punishable by death.”

“Death? I'm telling you I didn't do it, if you want to accuse me of this I want to see proof!” Luffy shouted.

Some knights showed up and revealed that they found some of Flampe's underwear in Luffy's room. Flampe gasped and hugged Cavendish. “You bastard!” Cavendish shouted.

“You scum!” Eneru snaps.

“To think the shield hero was such a person!”

“He has no right to be a hero!”

“Scoundrel!”

“Rapist!”

“We should kill him at once!” the whole court was in an uproar. Luffy looked around and everyone was looking at him with such hate and disgust. He looked to Usopp who looked away and said nothing.

'I'm not that kind of person, I know we don't know each other, but come on.' he looked to Flampe. 'Flampe, why are you saying these things?' his eyes widened. While everyone's focus was on him Flampe's scared face shifted to a wicked smirk, she pulled her eyelid down and stuck her tongue out at him.

“You bitch!” Luffy shouted causing the guards to point their weapons at him. “You set me up, why?”

“Ah Cavendish-sama!” she hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around her. “He's scaring me!”

“Don't worry, I'll protect you.” Luffy noticed that Cavendish was wearing his chain mail.

“You...you are in on it, you stole my stuff!” he snapped.

“You are crazy, Flampe-chan gave me this as a gift for looking after her,” he says.

Luffy realized, Flampe was calling the sword hero by his name, but when she spoke to him it was always, shield hero, shield hero, shield hero. 'They are in it together.' Luffy replayed her story in his head, and while he wasn't the brightest bulb he noticed her statement didn't suit the evidence presented. If he ripped off her clothes how is her underwear perfectly intact in his room. 'They set me up, why because I'm the shield! Ace...Sabo...you'd believe me right?'

As he put the pieces together, the other heroes minus Usopp who was staying quiet continued to egg Luffy on. Calling him a liar, an eyesore, trash. They didn't believe his words and felt he was just making excuses.

Luffy felt the joy he felt shatter as dark emotions welled up inside him. He wasn't the trash, they were, they looked down on him because he was the shield. They didn't believe in him and were just kicking him while he was down. Why should he fight for them when they didn't want him.

“Enough...just send me back.” he surprised everyone. “If you don't want me here just send me back, send me home and summon another shield hero for all I care.”

“Running away when things get tough you truly are trash,” Eneru says.

“Go ahead send him back, who wants to work next to a racist.”

“Shut your mouth!” Luffy snapped giving him a look of pure rage. The knights tried to stop Luffy but he forced them away. His shield radiating with power.

Linlin sighed. “We can't, a new hero cannot be summoned until the current heroes are killed.”

“What?!” the other three heroes gasped. A robed figure came up and whispered something to Linlin.

“As much as you deserve execution, you are one of the four heroes and legends say we need you to stop the waves. So long as you help fight against the demons you'll not receive execution. Know this, word of what you've done has spread through the country, that will be your punishment, you will not know a moment's peace.”

“So that means we have to work alongside him?”

“No, to hell with you, I'll figure out how to stop the waves myself!” Luffy snapped. “This is what you wanted right? Take it and shove it up your ass!” he took the silvers he was hiding under his shield and tossed it at Cavendish's feet. He left having lost his honor, his money, his equipment, and more…

-x-

As he walked through town looks of disgust were thrown at him. “Oi Shield Boy,” he was called by Franky, the man pulled Luffy out of the street and into an alley. “I heard what you did to that girl!” he looked ready to punch Luffy. “Allow me to hit you once myself!”

“What, you too?” Franky froze, looking into Luffy's eyes. Those weren't the eyes of a criminal, those weren't the eyes of a joyous adventurer he was before, he was broken. He'd seen a lot of people in his time, good guys and bad, and Luffy was not a bad guy.

He released him. “Not gonna hit me anymore?”

“Nah, don't feel right.” he goes inside his shop and brings out a cloak for Luffy, it was red and had a hood, he also gives him a bag to store his stuff. “Here take it.”

“How much?”

“I know your broke you can have it for free.”

“How much?” Luffy asked again.

“Five copper for the cloak, five for the bag.”

“I'll pay you back,” he says and heads off to go hunting.

“Don't die kid.”

-x-

Luffy spent all day and night fighting balloons, he barely made it to level 2 by fighting the orange and green balloons. Though the drops were larger and higher quality. The higher quality helped fill the gauge faster and Luffy gasped as he unlocked the Orange Shield and the Green Shield, both giving him a boost to his Defense + 2.

His Icon told him his stat boosts stacked, the shield unlocking also helped Luffy remember about his other unlocked shield and the stored coppers he had. He had put 10 in and he'd gained an additional 2 from the skill. 'I earned that money from selling the drops, so I'll keep it.' he thinks.

Luffy tried to fight a yellow balloon. While the weaker balloons took him five minutes to kill, these took an hour to kill. Luffy was exhausted after beating just 1 yellow and 1 blue balloon. He fed the materials from them to his shield and unlocked the Yellow Shield and the Blue Shield each giving him a Defense + 3.

To his shock, another shield was unlocked. Rubber Shield 1 Agility + 3 Defense + 3 Special Skill Rubber Body 1. “Special Skill?” His Icon activated and gave him a Tip. Special Skills could only be used while in that shield, while you use that skill a mastery gauge will increase, once mastered you can use it in any shield form. Luffy tried it transforming his shield into the Rubber Shield and activated the Rubber Body. His attack range was boosted by 1 and he gained a blunt attack immunity.

Luffy decided to call it a day, and take his materials to town and sell them. Before he packed up though, he ran across a few orange balloons and green ones and got an idea.

He went to the material shop, to sell his bounty. The guy before him sold his orange balloon pieces for a copper per pair, but when Luffy got up to the counter and placed his materials down. “Oh my orange and green balloon materials, bout 20 of each. I'll give you two copper for the lot.”

“I believe you gave the other guy 1 for the pair.”

“Did I? Well, I'm the one who sets the price after all.”

“Is that so?” Luffy lifted his cloak to reveal living balloon monsters happily clinging to him with their teeth. “How about these, they're fresh!” he hauled the guy under his cloak and let the balloons chomp on him a bit. “Listen, I'm not trying to rip you off, I just want a fair deal got it?”

“I got it, I got it!” he says and Luffy releases him, the monsters don't leave his side, quickly going back to him. “I'm a businessman, when it comes to money it knows no sin after all.” he pays Luffy properly for the materials.

“By the way let all the vendors know if they try to cheat me, they'll pay with their bodies!”

“I will,” the shopkeep says. Luffy puts 5 copper into his Coin Blessing Skill, he stops by Franky's shop and pays him back for the stuff he gave him. Franky found it when he brought some stuff from the back.

As Luffy walked around he saw some herbs in the window. He found the same herbs outside, he collects them and the quality was increased. He feeds some to his shield and unlocks the Leaf Shield, it boosted his Foraging Skill to level 2.

He changed the Rubber Shield to Leaf while he was collecting plants, boosting the quality as he “farmed” and he was able to find a patch of mushrooms. With his plant identification skill, he was able to tell which mushrooms were edible and which ones were poisonous.

He fed some to his shield and unlocked Mushroom Shield, it gave him a passive skill that increased the recovery of stamina when eating mushrooms. He fed the poison mushrooms to his shield. Poison Mushroom Shield: Poison Resistance Low, Sleep Mushroom Shield: Sleep Resistance Low, Parasite Mushroom Shield: Body Control Resistance Low, Hypnosis Mushroom Shield: Mind Control Resistance Low, the four shields unlocked Spore Shield it gave Luffy a Unique Skill he could only use in this form. Spore Counter: When struck will release a status spore that can poison, stun, or put to sleep an enemy, if it takes several hits the gauge will fill up and release a parasite spore that will cause vicious invading mushrooms to sprout from an enemies body.

He finished farming and brought his herbs back to town to sell. The person who ran the shop was an old woman with a scary young body. “This is some high-quality herbs, where did you get it?”

“Near the forest, its pretty close by.”

“Hmm, you don't say.” A crash was heard from the back. “That's just my assistant/apprentice ignore him he won't bother you.” she bought the herbs and Luffy got some decent silver out of the deal. As Luffy left he didn't notice a blue-nosed beastman watching him as he left.

Luffy's stomach growled, and he ate mushrooms and camped outside not wanting to waste money. Oddly enough the balloons he tamed actually protected him, keeping watch over his body as he slept.

To be continued...Cycle and Contracts


	3. Cycle and Contracts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Read and Review

Characters

Luffy: Shield Hero: Level 2

Special Skills

Angling Skill: Catch Rate for Fish + 1

Foraging Skill: Farming + 2

High Stamina Skill: Stamina Boost (Medium)

Food Recovery Boost: Stamina Boost when eating food

Plant Identification Skill: Able to Identify plants by touching them. (Medium)

Survival Skill: Capable of building a small campsite - recovers stamina and health in a campsite. Tool Mastery + 1

Cooking Skill 1: Capable of preparing simple meals. (Small)

Animal Charisma: Able to quickly tame animals and beasts

Rubber Body 1: Mastered Special Skill from the Rubber Shield: Allows his body to stretch, increase his attack range and bounce back physical blows.

Mushroom Recovery Boost: Mastered Skill from the Mushroom Shield: Boost the positive effects when eating mushrooms. (Small)

Shields

Coin Shield Copper: Coin Blessing (Low) Can store money in the shield and gain interest over time. DEF + 1

Orange Shield: DEF + 2

Green Shield: DEF + 2

Yellow Shield: DEF + 3

Blue Shield: DEF + 3

Rubber Shield 1: AGI + 3 DEF + 3, Special Skill Rubber Body

Mushroom Shield: Mushroom Recovery Boost Skill

Poison Mushroom Shield: Poison Resistance (Small)

Sleep Mushroom Shield: Sleep Resistance (Small)

Parasite Mushroom Shield: Body Control Resistance (Small)

Hypnosis Mushroom Shield: Mind Control Resistance (Small)

Spore Shield: Unique Skill- Spore Counter: when struck releases a status spore that can poison, stun, or sleep. Charged Attack- Parasite Spore

  
  


Eneru: Spear Hero: Level ??

Skills

Quantity Drop Boost Skill

Bargain Skill

Money Boost Skill

  
  


Cavendish: Sword Hero: Level ??

Skills

Dazzling Aura Skill: Charisma + 10, has a high chance of attracting monsters to you. Has a better chance of gaining party members.

Lady Luck Skill: Luck Multiplied by having females in the party

Fine Appraisal Skill: Can detect the quality of items, weapons, and gear by looking at them.

Natural Charisma: Charisma + 10 Bonds with party members will grow faster+ Combo Skills are more effective.

  
  


Usopp: Bow Hero: Level ??

Skills

Craftsmen Skill: Crafting + 10

Eagle Scope Skill: Sight Range (High) HIT + 10

Strategic Withdraw Skill: High Escape (High)

Chapter 3 Cycle and Contracts

Luffy was facing a terrible cycle, the time it was taking him to kill balloons wasn't shrinking. In the course of a full day, he barely made it to level 3. At this rate, he'd never be ready for the waves. If he can't level up he couldn't fight stronger monsters, and if he couldn't farm and he couldn't grind and increase his shield, which led him back to his inability to level up.

Cavendish and Eneru were bragging about there levels they were already in their double digits, a lot of people in town were talking about it. He was caught in a vicious cycle, a cruel cycle, and he didn't see a way of breaking it without a party member.

To make matters worse, he couldn't taste anything, ever since the incident food had no flavor. He took a bite of meat and it tasted of nothing...not bland, not salty, not anything. He couldn't even say it tasted gross. It bummed him out. Even though he befriended the balloons they wouldn't attack fellow balloons, so he's stuck.

He tried to look on the bright side, least he didn't have to pay for any fancy meals since he couldn't taste anything. 'Meat looked tasty too.' he sighed.

Before he could leave his place at the bar, he wasn't drinking he just ate at the bar, wanted to keep an eye on the cook to make sure they didn't try to poison him. His dream had become a nightmare.

Some guys approached Luffy. “Hey, Shield Hero bro, need some party members?” there were three of them and their posture and words made Luffy tense up. He remembered Flampe, how she tricked him, used him. His eyes darkened.

“You want to join my party?”

“Of course brother, we want to help you out.” the other two smiled and chuckled.

“First some ground rules, I'm in charge, you can consider me your boss or captain, you follow my orders,” he said seriously.

“Sure thing.”

“Second, if any of you slow me down or get in my way you'll be cut from the party.”

“Of course!”

“Third, rewards will be handed out based on performance, I'll be taking 60% off the drops off the bat. I'll give out the rewards based on my evaluation.”

“What?” all three men gasped at once.

“That's a rip-off, you'll be hogging all of the rewards.”

“Not at all, if you do your jobs, you'll get paid simple as that.” the men began to sweat but agreed to his terms. They joined Luffy, following him out of the tavern.

“Where to then boss?”

“Yeah, let's go get some gear!”

“Get it yourself, I have no obligation to pay for your gear, handle your own expenses.” the men stopped.

“Enough of this!” one took out some knuckle gear. The other two brought out bladed weapons.

“Just hand over your money and items.”

“So this is your game, you should have just started with this and not wasted my time.” he started reaching into his cloak.

“Heh, aren't you accommodating.” the guy with a sword approached Luffy and got a face full of Balloon. The guy dropped his sword, as the balloon mauled him.

“Damn you!” the guy with the fists charged forth and punched Luffy in the face. He expected to knock Luffy down but instead, his head flew back, his neck stretching. “What the hell?!”

“Sorry that doesn't work on me, I'm made of rubber!” thanks to his skill his body stretched. The guy wasn't spared, before he could equip some spiked gloves, the Balloons attached to Luffy attacked, on mass. They swarmed the guy and covered him bites, and Luffy's neck snapped back, Luffy giving the guy a powerful headbutt. The brawler was knocked out.

“Screw you damn shield hero!” the guy with the knife charged at Luffy only to be blocked by his shield. His defenses were so strong, the guy was thrown back. “You...you monster!” the Balloons pounced on him.

They stole some of their weapons and items. While Luffy couldn't use weapons but he could feed them to his shield. While he didn't gain any weapon type shield like a blade shield or a dagger shield, but he did get a Sharpening Shield. It gave him the Unique Skill: Sharpening. He could only use it in this shield but it allowed him to repair bladed weapons.

He pets the Balloons. “Thanks, guys.” They purred, before jumping onto him. Luffy was still annoyed, what good was his defense if he couldn't fight back. “This sucks!” he needed a party, but he didn't trust anyone, he felt like he was stabbed in the back, and just the feel of certain people, the scent or aura of betrayal.

Those idiots got what they deserved for trying to mess with him. “My my,” Luffy turned, and saw a man with a top hat approach him, he was a plumper man with some muscle to him, he was dressed fancy and had a cane and a monocle. “My name is Breed and I have a business proposition for you.”

“Whatever you are selling, I'm not interested.”

“I saw what happened back there, you have such great control over those balloons.”

“What do you want from me?” he glared.

Breed smirked. “I know who you are, Shield Hero, Luffy!” he walked around him. “I'll admit I wasn't sure what I was gonna see when I met you, but I like what I see.” he walked forward. “Follow me, and I'll help you with your problem.”

Luffy sighed and followed him. What did he have to lose at this point...not that he didn't remain on his guard. He was led into a back alley and led into a shop full of cages. “Look if you are trying to offer me, party members, I don't buy it.”

“Party members, no no my boy, what I offer is much more valuable than party members!” he did a little twirl. “This is a slave shop!”

“Slaves!?” Luffy gasped, finding all the cages full of people, mostly demi-human and beastmen. “Why would I want slaves? I'm out of here.” he turned to leave.

“Because slaves can't lie.” Luffy froze. “Each slave is bound with a curse mark, they cannot lie or betray you, and must follow your orders.” Luffy looked at Breed, who grinned wide. “Interested?”

Luffy didn't want to own a slave, but he had to survive, he needed a sword! “Fine, show me what you got.”

“Excellent!” Breed showed him around, there were so many cages, the trapped ranged in ages, there were even children. “The underground holds many such dealers, this country doesn't even bother to put any heavy restrictions against us, you'll find a dark side in every country.”

“That so,” he honestly didn't see much of a difference the royal family seemed really fucked up as it.

“Here's a female slave, perhaps you'd enjoy her, with the rumors about you...”

Bang! Luffy punched a nearby cage, silencing the whole shop, they sensed his rage, raw and furious. “I didn't do it!”

Breed was surprised. “You didn't did you...hmm.” he shrugged. “No business of mine, what kind of slave would you like?”

“Male, anything else would do.”

“Anything else?” Breed chuckled. “You are a funny guy.”

“I just need them to follow orders, if they can't fight I can train them.” Breed chuckled again.

“You truly are interesting!” he spun around again. “Here is a strong fighter, level 75.” He showed Luffy a cage with a powerful beastman inside, it growled as Luffy approached.

“How much?”

“15 gold,” Luffy glared at him.

“Showing me your most expensive slave when you know I can't afford it.”

“I want you to obtain an eye for quality.” Luffy sighed and looked around. He found two cages containing to boys there was a boy had dog ears and a tail, he had green hair and was wearing only some raggedy loincloth. Despite being so young, he was built, his body already showing muscle. He was level 3.

The boy next to him was a rabbit demi-human. He was also in rags, exposing his bare skin covered in white blotches. He kept coughing and looked like he was gonna pass out. He was level 2.

“What's the story with these two?” he asked.

“Them?” he brought out two files. “The rabbit demi-human might not last long, his former master loved his experiments he drugged the boy with a really bad disease. The dog demi-human, he's a runaway, every master he's had he's run away from.” After a pause, Luffy looked into their eyes and felt they were similar to him.

“I'll take them both.” He said.

The two were surprised, but not as surprised as Breed. “Suit yourself, since one is sickly, and the other is a runaway, I'll give them both for 30 silvers.”

Luffy paid, giving him an extra silver for commission. “What is your name?” he asked the green haired demi-human. He didn't respond. “You do have a name, don't you?”

“Yes...my name...is Zoro...”

“Zoro, I can see a fire in your eyes, you wish to fight don't you?” Zoro's eyes widened.

“How did you know?”

“You've trained, you've sought to become stronger. If you will come with me, I will let you fight, fight for me and become my sword.” Zoro couldn't believe it, this guy was gonna let him fight? All his previous masters wanted a servant or a toy.

He was brought out, and Luffy performed the slave contract. With his blood a slave crest was made, making his slaves loyal to him. Breed painted it on Zoro's chest, causing him pain for a moment. “Oi!”

“This is normal, a taste of the pain he will face should he disobey you.” Luffy was surprised when Zoro's stats appeared on his Icon.

'What is this? Party settings?' Luffy looked to the sickly demi-human. “What is your name?”

“L...Law...” he said weakly. “You don't...want me...gonna die...” he got out.

“I'm not gonna let that happen. Law, serve me, fight for me, I promise you, you aren't gonna die.” He carried the boy to Breed who put the slave mark on him. Law cried out and clung to Luffy crying and coughing. Law's stats appeared onto his Icon. 'I'll ask Franky about this later, but first.'

“Let's go,” he carried Law out and Zoro followed him.

“I look forward to doing business with you.” In truth, he had been planning to capture Luffy and enslave him. Many people would pay top dollar to own a hero as a slave, but when he saw the look in Luffy's eyes and his bond with the monsters he couldn't bring himself to do it. Luffy would come back, be it for new slaves or the slave seal itself.

-x-

Luffy brought Law and Zoro to the medicine shop. “My word!” the elderly woman gasped.

“Can you treat him?” he asked. She grit her teeth.

“Come to the back,” she led them to the back room where a beast man was standing.

“Ahh!” he gasped. He quickly hid, or tried to, but did it backward. Luffy raised a brow at him.

“What's with him?” he looked at the beastman. “You are doing it backward.” he points out and he hid better, but was still peeking out.

“He's nervous around people, people don't treat demi-humans and beastmen well. You can't blame him for being scared when you bring demi-human slaves here.” she looked angry.

“Can you help him?” he asked.

“I can try, he seems to have white lead disease. Did you do this to him?” she hissed.

“Lady...not him...new master...he bought me even though...I'm sick...” he said between coughs.

“Well, aren't you nice.” She said sarcastically. “I don't wanna someone who buys slaves, but I can't let this boy die.” she glared at Luffy. She had heard the rumors, but the boy didn't seem the type, now he walks in with two slaves. “Be prepared, I'm gonna overcharge you as you've never been charged before!”

Luffy looked at his funds. He could barely afford a decent potion. “Just save him, I can't pay you now, but...” a knife went flying past his head.

“Get out, take him with you!” she snapped. Luffy was pushed into a corner, he looked at Law.

“Fine, I will save him myself.” he scooped Law out and carried him out. This woman was named Kureha, she had a past of her own. She couldn't help the rage that bubbled up seeing someone with demi-human slaves. She grabbed a bottle of spirits and began to drink.

“Doctor...” the reindeer beastman came over and nuzzled her. “I don't think he was a bad person when he came before, he smelled like he was hurting.” Kureha didn't want to hear it. Some scars ran too deep.

-x-

He went to Franky's shop. Franky recognized the two as slaves as soon as he saw their rags and slave crests. “Kid...” Luffy put the rest of his money on the table.

“They need clothes, and get them each a sword they can use.” he looked at the two. Zoro's eyes brightened.

“Yes, I love the sword!” his tail was wagging.

Law nodded weakly. “I can use a sword.”

“Good,” he left them to Franky who took them back to find them some clothes and a decent sword. While they did that, Luffy checked Law's stats, the boy was inflicted with a strong poison. The fact it had a name made Luffy concerned.

The poison was a slow spreading one, it left the user growing weaker and weaker until they eventually died. 'Who would do this to a kid?' he thought. He needed them to be his swords, he needed to get stronger or die. This wasn't his ideal way, but he couldn't trust anyone else.

When the door suddenly opened Luffy looked but didn't see anyone, he heard some scurrying. It was the reindeer boy from the medicine shop, he was wearing a cloak and a mask. “Here!” he offered Luffy a vial. “This is medicine.”

Luffy took the vial. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“I saw how much you care, you wanted to save his life. This will help.” he turned to leave.

“What's your name?”

“Chopper, Tony Tony Chopper.” he gasped. “I mean, I am a masked delivery man!” he ran off.

Luffy examined the medicine and poured some into his shield. Just half unlocked new shields, which resonated with his mushroom shields. 'Whoa!'

 

Petit Medicine Shield: Medicine Effect Boost

Petit Poison Shield: Antidote Effect Boost

Medicinal Mushroom Shield: Compounding Skill

Green Mushroom Shield: Compounding Recipe 1 Healing Potion

Blue Mushroom Shield: Compounding Recipe 2 Antidote

Red Mushroom Shield: Compounding Recipe 3 Burn Ointment

Orange Mushroom Shield: Compounding Recipe 4 Smelling Salt

White Mushroom Shield: Compounding Recipe Rare: White Lead Antidote

His new skill boosted the potency of the medicine. He didn't have a chance to look at the other shields and skills as Franky came back. Law came out in a white shirt and black shorts, and Zoro had a white shirt and green shorts. They each had a beginner’s sword.

“Law, try this,” he offered the boy the rest of the medicine. “It's a bit bitter, but it'll help.”

Law tried it and despite the small amount of medicine, Law gasped. His cough was eased, and he could feel his strength returning, if only slightly. “I feel a bit better!” he gasped. “How did you...?”

“I need you both to fight for me, so I need you at your best.” he reaches out to Law who flinched, only to receive a pat on the head. “I'm the shield hero, I'm gonna protect you both.”

Their eyes widened. 'He's the…'

'...Shield hero?!' the two shared the same thought. Franky started blubbering, being touched by Luffy's words.

To be continued…Training

AN: So changing up some things, when doing these shield hero parodies I'm gonna try to change them up, so they not so repetitive. This one will be having extra plots including exploring other kingdoms and territories.  


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